As part of our growing list of content here at LIJSoccer.com we are introducing a weekly feature discussing the importance of good nutrition, not only in terms of how it helps your performance, but how it also contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Want to know what you should eat before a game? After? In the offseason? What about a plan for the right way to eat during those long tournament weekends when you may only have an hour between games?
Be sure to check back each week as our LIJSoccer nutrition expert, Cristina Rivera of Nutrition in Motion gives you all those answers and more. Each week, Cristina will offer a fun nutritional fact that can help you get a better understanding of healthy eating, and twice a month will post more detailed features regarding the best way to lay out a proper nutrition plan for young athletes.
This week’s fun nutritional fact talks about the best way for athletes to create energy and improve performance through good eating habits.
“Do you find yourself skipping meals or going long periods without eating this school year? Research shows that athletes who eat every 3 hours throughout the day have more energy and are able to decrease body fat body percentage while building muscle mass better than those who skips meals. As blood sugar levels drop due to lack of food, our levels of human growth hormone and testosterone (hormones we make that play a role in muscle growth) also decrease, thus signaling our body to break down muscle. Additionally, when the supply of free floating glucose dwindles, our brain signals muscles to release glycogen (stored carbohydrate used for energy during exercise), which results in fatigue and decreased performance."
Cristina Rivera is the President of Nutrition in Motion PC, a registered dietician, and a Board Certified Sports Nutritionist. Her clinical work at the NYU Hospital of Joint Diseases, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Bellevue Hospital has given her a diverse and skilled background in medical nutrition therapy. As a certified specialist is sports dietetics, Cristina has worked with numerous running and triathlon teams to design specific meal plans for athletes during training and on race days. She has also served as a consulting sports nutritionist for the NYU athletic department and currently consults for the Coca-Cola company. Cristina has been featured in Shape, Women’s Running magazine, Women’s Day, and on ESPN.com.